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Mountain Province Diamonds has provided an update to the Mineral Resource Estimate for the Faraday 2 kimberlite, reporting a 74% spike to 5.45 million carats of diamonds, outstrippiing the 2017 estimate of 3.13 million carats. The update now cites an inferred resource of 2.07 million tonnes of kimberlite, a 49% increase from the1.39 million tonnes cited in 2017. The overall grade has also increased by 17% to 2.63 carats per tonne, and the average value per carat has jumped 25% to US$140 from the 2017 estimate of US$112 per carat.

Lucapa Diamond Co. reports that its inferred diamond resource estimate of in-situ carats at its 40%-owned Lulo diamond mine in Angola has nearly doubled since it was last analyzed in May 2017, increasing 90% to 80,400 carats. The modelled average price per carat also rose to $1,420, a 17% increase over the previous modelled estimate of $1,215 per carat. Overall sales of Lulo diamonds to date total ~US$141 million at an average price per carat of ~US$2,100.

Canadian junior miner Star Diamond Corp. has reported "unusually high proportions of Type IIa diamonds" at its kimberlite diamond project in Saskatchewan, and investors did not fail to notice, sending its shares soaring almost 15% on the news, closing at 24 Canadian cents.

UK-based and AIM and BSE listed exploration company Botswana Diamonds, one of the most prolific diamond exploration and project development companies around, intersected 12 kimberlites from 18 holes drilled as part of its first phase of the intensification drilling program at the company's flagship Thorny River project in South Africa. The junior miner said drilling is now complete on the farm Hartbeesfontein bulk sampling target of 1.5 km of kimberlite fissure intersection were also identified.

RJK Explorations, a mineral exploration company with a focus on diamonds, gold, silver and base metals with its resource properties located in Ontario and Newfoundland, is planning to search for the source of the 800-Carat Nipissing Yellow Diamond in southeastern Ontario. The Bishop Nipissing Diamond Project came about when RJK entered into a property option agreement with Anthony “Tony” Bishop for the Bishop Nipissing Diamond Properties, exploration properties totaling 2,090 hectares encompassing at least 18 potential kimberlite pipes, according to a press release.

Junior miner Botswana Diamonds (BD) has acquired Alrosa's 50% share in the Sunland Minerals project for a "nominal sum". BD's 100% ownership of Sunland now enables a new investor to enter as a new joint venture partner, and they say that negotiations with this potential partner are at an advanced stage. The potential partner is said to be a large diamond producer with new ideas and keen to find new kimberlites in Botswana.

CEO of Australia’s Lucapa Diamond Company, Stephen Wetherall, paid a visit to Antwerp recently, where The Diamond Loupe caught up with him. We encountered an optimistic CEO that is clearly excited about the future of Lucapa, and justifiably so. The growing miner operates, together with its partners in Angola, the highest-value and most promising alluvial diamond project in the world - the Lulo Diamond Project.

North Arrow, a Canadian-based exploration company focused on diamond opportunities in Canada, has completed an exploration drilling and till sampling program at its 100% owned Mel Diamond Project, confirming it as a new diamondiferous kimberlite field in Canada. The program represents the first ever exploration drilling of this new kimberlite field and also included work focused on generation of new targets through till sampling and geophysical surveys, the company said.

Botswana Diamonds has identified the potential of the Free State in South Africa to host additional commercial kimberlites following archival research concerning the history of diamond mining in South Africa. This research, first discussed in August 2017, found that in addition to the well-documented iconic operations at Jagersfontein, Koffiefontein and Kimberley, a number of smaller diamond mines existed in the area, but knowledge of them had essentially been lost over the

Brazil Minerals, a U.S. diversified company with projects in various minerals in Brazil, announced its extensive drilling campaign in one of its several mineral rights yielded alluvial material with a high likelihood for diamonds in over 57% of the drill holes executed. The project is located in the Jequitinhonha River Valley in northern Minas Gerais state in Brazil. Marc Fogassa, CEO of Brazil Minerals, stated, “Our identification of an initial diamond-rich zone within a gold mineralization area is a very good outcome.

POZ Minerals Ltd., a phosphate producer that holds a 100% interest in the Blina Diamond Project and also explores for phosphate and gold properties, annouced it will place a bid for the Ellendale mine after the state government’s call for investors in the asset last week. The Ellendale Project was mined from 2002 to 2015 and previously produced about half of the world's highly valued fancy yellow diamonds.

Australian-based Lucapa Diamond Company, whose flagship operation is the Lulo diamond project in Angola, reports the recovery 1,100 diamonds from a 178 kg drill sample at the Brooking diamond project in Western Australia’s West Kimberley lamproite province. The miner's "exceptional results" from the Little Spring Creek discovery included 18 macro-diamonds and 1,082 micro-diamonds, recovered from drill hole LSC/DH002. “The latest micro-diamond results from Little Spring Creek are some of the best I have seen in the diamond space," said Lucapa Managing Director Stephen Wetherall.

Vast Resources, the AIM-listed mining company that signed last March a Memorandum of Understanding with Botswana Diamonds (BOD) to develop diamond resources in Zimbabwe, has been awarded exclusive access to a diamond concession area in the Marange Diamond Fields in the Chiadzwa region of Zimbabwe. According to a statement from BOD, the purpose of Vast's agreement is to carry out initial due diligence on the area with a view to concluding a joint venture agreement, the principal terms of which have been agreed, for exploration, mining and marketing.

Botswana Diamonds (BOD) on Wednesday released an update on the company's Sunland Minerals exploration projects in the Kalahari Desert in Botswana - Sunland Minerals is a JV with ALROSA - noting they were encouraged with the latest results. The exploration company has completed its mineral sampling over the 8 previously discovered and announced high contrast geophysical anomalies in the Gope Region of the Kalahari Desert, with all 8 anomalies turning up kimberlitic indicator minerals ("KIMs") - 267 in total. Analysis of the KIMs concluded that the sources were likely to be local.

Junior miner Botswana Diamonds has been awarded the priority 2.5 hectare Mooikloof kimberlite pipe concession close to De Beers’ flagship Venetia Mine, the company today announced. Mooikloof is a known 2.5 hectare diamondiferous kimberlite pipe last prospected in 1986 and fits into Botswana Diamonds’ strategy of undertaking fresh exploration work with modern techniques in areas where they had been found and mined before. The adjacent Oaks mine was previously owned and successfully operated by De Beers, achieving a grade of 53 cpht at a value of $156.

Pangolin Diamonds Corp.,a diamond exploration company in Botswana, has recovered two diamonds and 100 positive kimberlite indicators from a 4 hectare soil sampling grid at the MAL 001 drill target located in the company's wholly-owned Malatswae Project. The recovery is the second positive result the junior miner has announced in the past two weeks, following the companies first diamond at the Jwaneng South Diamond Project, Botswana.

Botswana Diamonds (BOD), the AIM and BSE listed explorer, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Vast Resources, the AIM-listed mining company with operating mines in Romania and Zimbabwe for the exploitation of diamonds in Zimbabwe. Under the agreement, the two companies will exchange past exploration information on areas prospective for diamonds in Zimbabwe and form a jointly-owned special purpose vehicle to develop and exploit diamond resources. Both companies now have a Zimbabwe diamond database.

Eira Thomas was recently appointed as the new CEO of Lucara Diamond Corp., replacing William Lamb, who oversaw the successful creation of the world-class Karowe mine in Botswana. Thomas brings more than 25 years’ experience in the mining industry to Lucara, including 16 years with Aber Diamond Corporation (now Dominion Diamond), where she played an integral role as a geologist at its initial discovery and ultimately became Director of the Board.

Angola's new president João Lourenço, who took power in September and says he wants to shed Angola’s image as an opaque oil economy with rampant corruption, continues to make good on his promise to tackle family monopolies and make Angola more attractive to investors.

North Arrow Minerals - a Canadian based exploration company focused on the identification and evaluation of diamond exploration opportunities in Canada - has recovered a total of 1,991 diamonds greater than +1 DTC (-1 mm), weighing 64.25 carats, from 209.84 dry tons of kimberlite. This represents an overall sample grade of 30.6 cpht (carats per hundred tons). The three largest recovered diamonds are 5.25, 2.09 and 1.06 carats.

Kimberlite diamond deposits have been discovered in the Sese area of Chivi, with investors scrambling to start mining the gems that are expected to catapult Masvingo Province into a mining hub, reports Zimbabwe news outlet The Herald. Masvingo Provincial Affairs Minister Senator Josaya Hungwe said diamond mining was set to start in Chivi following the discovery, and said at a press conference the discovery of diamonds in Chivi would economically transform the province.

Botswana Diamonds (BOD) has commenced its first half exploration program on the Sunland Minerals joint venture (JV) with Russian diamond miner ALROSA in the Southern Africa country. The program will focus on previously identified geophysical targets in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve with the aim of turning them into drill targets. It will use soil samples and magnetic surveys to supplement the airborne gravity and airborne magnetic data obtained in earlier work.

Peregrine Diamonds, a Vancouver-based junior miner with exploration projects in Canada and Botswana, announced its Resource Development Program has resulted in a 58% increase in the Inferred Mineral Resource at the high-grade CH-6 kimberlite pipe at its 100%-owned Chidliak Diamond Project, Nunavut, Canada. Their inferred resource at CH-6 jumped from 11.39 million to 17.96 million carats after testing. This brings the company's total Phase One Diamond Development resource at the CH-6 and Ch-7 pipes to 22 million carats.

We believe that South Africa is a prime exploration destination. We have had 52 exploration applications outstanding for a long time and now we’ve had 16 of those 52 licences granted and we are working hard to get the others approved. One of the strengths that we’ve got is that we have a database with fairly reliable information from about the mid-1950s onwards. Using that database we then apply the latest thinking and the latest technology. So a lot of our focus is around Kimberley where we used to mine.

While out on North Arrow Minerals' Mel diamond property on Nunavut's remote Melville Peninsula, prospectors made a welcome discovery: a 62 kilogram surface sample of diamond bearing kimberlite. The sample returned 23 micro-diamonds. This prompted North Arrow to significantly increase the size of its 100% owned Mel Diamond Project from 7,500 ha to 56,075 ha. Claim staking was initiated as a result of North Arrow’s September 2017 discovery of a new diamond bearing kimberlite field at Mel, located within 20 km of tide water on the Melville Peninsula, Nunavut.

A global miner hoping to revive the Kimberley diamond industry has made a significant discovery, only 50km east of the old Ellendale mine that once produced half the world's rare fancy yellow diamonds, writes ABC Australia. Only a few weeks after Lucapa Diamond Company began drilling for lamproite on its Brooking project, it has uncovered 119 diamonds, including seven macro diamonds. The diamonds were recovered from an 86.8kg core sample in a 7.5cm drill hole at Little Spring Creek in the West Kimberley.

The Finnish Mining Authority has granted Irish diamond exploration company, Karelian Diamond Resources, an Exploration Claim in the Kaavi region of Finland. The four-year Claim, which is close to Karelian's Lahtojoki mining concession, covers an area of 28.84 Hectares surrounding the location where kimberlite boulders in till have been discovered. The finding of kimberlite is significant as these igneous rocks can sometimes contain diamonds. An exploration permit provides the holder with an exclusive right to apply for a mining permit.

Canadian miner Stornoway Diamond Co. has announced its exploration plans for the upcoming year. "With the successful construction and ramp-up of the Renard Diamond Project completed", they write, "the board of directors of Stornoway has approved a program of both brownfield and grassroots exploration aimed at both new discoveries, and the development of the existing resource upside potential at Renard.

Peregrine Diamonds reports that its 2017 resource expansion drill program has confirmed the high-grade CH-6 kimberlite extends from surface to 540 metres below surface (mbs). This represents an additional 280 metres below the 260-metre depth of the current CH-6 Inferred Resource announced on April 7, 2017. The CH-6 kimberlite remains open below 540 mbs, the current limit of drilling. Tom Peregoodoff, Peregrine’s President and CEO, said: “The results confirm that the high-grade CH-6 kimberlite extends well below the current resource base of 260 metres.

"ALROSA will play its role in diamond mining in Zimbabwe", said Zimbabwe's ambassador to the Russian Federation, Mike Nicholas Sango, to TASS news agency. Following Robert Mugabe's resignation and the transfer of power to former vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa, countries and natural resource companies will be testing the waters of the new administration, and Russia's ALROSA will apparently be one of them.

Results from survey work conducted at Botswana Diamond's Free State project, located between Bloemfontein and Kimberley, had indicated that sizes of kimberlites there ranged from 0.3 hectares to 1.15 hectares, the board of Botswana Diamonds announced on Friday. Following their announcement regarding the re-discovery of eight Group 1 kimberlites, Geofocus undertook detailed ground geophysical survey work aimed at determining the surface area of these kimberlites.

Karelian Diamond Resources has been informed that TUKES (The Finnish Mining Authority) has granted Karelian Diamonds an exploration permit in the Kuhmo region of Finland, where it discovered a green diamond at the start of the year. The permit covers an area of 601.68 ha surrounding the location where the Company discovered a diamond in till (31 January 2017). The permit has been granted for a period of four years.

In a recent interview with Mining Weekly Online, De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) CEO Phillip Barton bemoaned the lengthy delay in processing their 54 prospecting licences in South Africa, citing the new Mining Charter (still on hold) and issues with South Africa’s Department of Minerals Resources (DMR), which are effectively blocking them from diamond exploration in the country.

Kennady Diamonds, a Canadian diamond exploration company headquartered in Toronto, has reported a maiden Inferred Mineral Resource (IMR) of more than 5.02-million carats for the Faraday kimberlites at the Company’s 100 percent owned Kennady North Project in Canada’s Northwest Territories, the company announced in a press release. The IMR result builds significantly on their Kelvin Indicated Resource of 13.62 million carats and, "represents another significant step in the advancement of our Kennady North Project", said President and CEO of Kennady Diamonds Dr. Rory Moore.

Last week Friday, junior miner Botswana Diamonds said sampling work at its Ontevreden licence in South Africa, "produced abundant G10 and G9 garnets with a complimentary suite of eclogitic garnets," noting that, "This mix of garnets is typically seen in a high-grade kimberlite pipes. This work follows detailed ground geophysics which identified ...

Five Star Diamonds, a Canadian mining company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, signed a co-operation agreement with I.Henning, the world’s leading international diamond broking and consulting group. Five star is making significant progress on its kimberlite drilling program at its 100% owned Jaibaras Diamond Project in Para State, Brazil.